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Title 



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l^asI)tngton*s Healiquartcrs, 

Cf)t 3^og;er iHorris ^omt 

and 

Sfumel iHansiou* 



/tJear SlmBtcrlJam Stirnur. 

<Citp of J^ftu t^orU. 



H^tstoiual ^krttl) 

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Prrparfi) iinDrr tbf auDjjirro of 

%\)t WMMv^ton i)raliquartfr5 association, 



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Difitonral rtf^cardi Conimittrr 




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COPYRIGHT, OCTOBKR. litO.S, H\ 

THE WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS ASSO( lA I ION 
NEW YORK 

Founded by The Daug/ihrs of thi AmerUiUi RtTo/ufioff 



©rigin anlj ^Uetcl) 

of tl)C 

Jj^asljington l^raliquartrrs assoriatioii 

/VVI-LMBERS of the National Society, Daughters of the American 
Jl*^^ Kevolution, of New York City, consisting of representatives 
from the Washington Heights, Knickerbocker, Manhattan, and Mary 
Washington Colonial Chapters, convened, at the request of the 
Washington Heights Chapter, on February 14, 1903, at the residence 
of Mrs. Samuel J. Kramer, Regent of that Chapter, to assist in a 
movement for the purchase of Washington's Headquarters on Wash- 
ington Heights, by the municipal authorities. At this meeting an 
organization was effected and named the General Committee of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution of the Borough of Manhattan 
for the preservation and custody of Washington's Headquarters on 
Washington Heights. 

During the administration of the Hon. Seth Low, Mayor of New 
York, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, on May 29, 1903, 
gave a hearing, and agreed, by unanimous vote, to purchase the 
property; and on July 29th, the purchase was authorized. Negotia- 
tions were conducted by Hon. N. Taylor Phillips, the Deputy Comp- 
troller, and the sum paid was $235,000.: the city took possession of 
the deeds in October of the same year. 

Formal acceptance of this property by the city occurred on Monday 
December 28, 1903, when, under the auspices of the Park Board, the 
tablet at the west of the front entrance to the house was placed. 
Commissioner William R. Wilcox presided, and the Hon. Chauncey 
M. Depew, United States Senator from the State of New York, 
delivered the oration. The following societies were represented: 
National Society; Daughters of the American Revolution; Empire 
State Society; Sons of the American Revolution; Sons of the 

I 



Revoluton; Colonial Dames of America; Colonial Dames of the State 
of New York; American Scenic and Historic Society; Auxiliary to" 
the American Scenic and Historic Society; New York Historical 
Society; and the Washington Continental Guard. 

In 1904, by Legislative enactment, the Park Commissioner, Hon. 
John J. Pallas was enabled to accord the custody of this house, 
known as the Jumcl Mansion, to the General Committee of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution. This Committee resolved itself into 
an Association, and became incorporated March 17, 1904. under the 
name of the Washington Headquarters Association, New York, 
founded by Daughters of the American Revolution, with Mrs. Sam- 
uel J. Kramer, the organizer of the movement, as its first president. 

The first public celebration of Washington's birthday, by the city 
of New York, was held here, February 22, 1905, by the Park Depart- 
ment, under the auspices of the Washington Headquarters Associa- 
tion, which was the first womans' organization so honored. 

The opening of the house as a public museum occurred on 
May 28, 1907, under the administration of the Hon. George B. 
McClellan, Mayor, and Hon. Moses Hcrrman, Park Commissioner. 



4^^{^fs„„^jffa^>^Jiii9'***ifggi 



Zl)c nDorrie pcrio^ 

1758—1775 

/flT^HIS beautiful old Colonial and most historic Mansion in the city 
^^ of New York, built by Lieutenant-Colonel Rog^er Morris, 
Loyalist, for his bride, Mary Philipse, in 1758, stands near the original 
site of an old farm house known as the Jan Kiersen house, which had 
been standing more than fifty years, and is believed to have been the 
first dwelling erected on Harlem Heights. Kiersen took possession 
of this property July 2, 1694; but it was not until March 7, 1700, that 
a deed, with the consent of the freeholders, was granted him, with 
permission "to take a half-morgen of land from the Common woods, 
on which to have a house, barn and garden." 

In 1756 the heirs of Jan Kiersen sold this beautiful site to Roger 
Morris, and that same year Morris began the erection of this stately 
Mansion, but did not complete it until 1758, which date he caused to 
be carved on the keystone of an arch in the main hall; but it is not 
now visible. Morris was the third son, born January 28, 1727, of 
Roger Morris, of Netherby, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, by his first wife, the fourth daughter of Sir Peter Jackson, Knight. 

Having obtained a Commission in the British Army, Morris was 
ordered to the American Colonies, where, for his conspicuous services, 
he soon rose in rank, and was appointed to the Staff of General Brad- 
dock. He was a personal friend of Washington, and during the 
French and Indian War they fought side by side, and remained friends 
and associates until the struggle for American Independence caused 
them to declare against each other. 

The wedding of (then) Major Roger Morris and Mary Philipse — one 
of the beautiful daughters of Frederick Philipse, Lord of Philipsburg 
Manor^took place at the Philips Manor in the early part of 1758. 
After their marriage, this brilliant )-oung couple took up their resi- 
dence in this house, and occupied it for seventeen }-ears as their 

III 



summer home, entertaining with great Colonial dignity and style, sid€ 
by side with the De Peysters, De Lanceys, Bayards, Van Courtlandts, 
Livingstons and other families of distinction. They also numbered 
among their distinguished visitors, Major-General Moniton, Sir Henry 
Moore, the Earl of Dunmore, Sir William Tryon and Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin, then Postmaster-General of the Colonies, 

With the breaking out of the Revolution the social reign of the 
Morrises came to an end; and Lieutenant-Colonel Morris, whose 
sympathies were distinctly with the Mother Country, being a member 
of the King's Council, as well as a retired officer of the English Army 
at this time, was forced to flee with his wife and four children as 
early as May, 1775. Subsequently they embarked for England. 

This house is filled in with brick imported from Holland by the 
bride's father for the purpose. Brick from Holland was of common 
occurence in those early days. 

5^asi)tngton l^txitib 

September, 1776— IRovember, 1776 

^FTER the disastrous battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, the 
'^^ American Army under General Putnam retreated during the night 
of August 29th, to New York. Here they remained some days in a dis- 
heartened condition, having suffered great losses; and it was not until 
about the 9th of September, that the terrible suspense of total ignor- 
ance as to the movements of the British Army, about which Washing- 
ton wrote on the 6th, was revealed. Soon after that date General Sir 
William Howe landed the British troops upon New York, and on the 
1 2th, General Putnam finding the city no longer tenable, retreated 
northward as far as Robert Murray's House on Murray Hill, what is 
now 36th street between Fifth and Madison Avenues, where Washing- 
ton spent the night of Sept. 14th. On the 15th, Washington halted 
at Mott's Tavern, which stood near the intersection of 143d street 
and Eighth Avenue, and on the following day, the i6th of September, 
1776, he took possession of the house of Roger Morris and occupied 
it as his Military Headquarters for a period of thirty-six days. 

No more authentic authority on the movements of the armies at 
this time, can be discovered than is set forth in a letter written by 
General George Clinton,' dated King's Bridge, September 18, 1776, 

IV 



(which was Wednesday), now among the archives of the War De- 
partment in Washington, D. C. This letter says — "About the middle* 
of last week it was determined for many reasons to evacuate the city 
of New York, and accordingly, orders were given for removing the 
ordnance, military and other stores from thence, which by Sunday* 
morning was nearly effected. On Saturday four of the large ships 
had passed by the city up the North River and anchored near Gre- 
nage,* and about as many up the East River, which anchored in 
Turtle Bay,' and from the movements of the enemy on Long Island, 
and the small Islands in the East River, we had great reasons to 
apprehend they intended to make a landing and attack our lines 
somewhere near the city. Our army for some days had been moving 
up towards this way, and encamping on the Heights, south-west of 
Colonel Morris' where we intended to form lines, and make our grand 
stand. On Sunday' morning the enemy landed a very considerable 
body of troops, principally consisting of their light Infantry and 
Grenadiers near Turtle Bay, under cover of a very heavy cannonade 
from their shipping. Our lines were but thinly manned, as they 
were then intended only to secure a retreat to the rear of our army, 
and unfortunately by such troops as were so little disposed to stand 
in the way of grape shot, that the main body of them almost instantly 
retreated, nay, fled without a possibility of rallying, though General 
Washington himself, who rid to the spot on hearing the cannonade 
with some other General officers exerted themselves to effect it. 
The enemy on landing, immediately formed a line across the Island.' 
Most of our people were luckily north of it and joined the army. 
The few that were in the city crossed the river, chiefly to Paulus 
Hook,' so that our loss in men, artillery, or stores, is very inconsid- 
erable. I don't believe it exceeds one hundred men, and I fancy 
most of them from their conduct staid out of choice. Before evening 
the enemy landed the main body of their army, took possession of 
the city, and marched up the Island and encamped on the Heights 



» General George Clinton, later Vice-President of United States. 

2 About the middle of last week was Sept. nth or 12th. 

3 Sunday morning, American Army on Heights Sept. 15th. 

4 Grenage — Greenwich Village. 

5 Turtle Bay — opposite then Incleburg— now East 44th street. 

6 Sunday morning, English landed Sept. 15th. 

7 Across the island, about 44th street. 

8 Paulus Hook— now Jersey City. 

V 



extending from McGown's and the Black Horse to the North River. 
On Monday about ten o'clock a party of the enemy, consisting of 
Highlanders, Hessians, the Light Infantry, Grenadiers and English 
troops (number uncertain) attacked our advancing party commanded 
by Colonel Knowlton at Martje Davits Fly. They were opposed 
with spirit and made to retreat to a clear field south-west of that, 
where they lodged themselves behind a fence covered with bushes. 
Our people attacked them in front and caused them to retreat a 
second time, leaving five dead on the spot. We pursued them to a 
buckwheat field, on the top of a hill, distance of about four hundred 

paces We lost on this occasion Colonel Knowlton, a 

brave officer, and sixteen privates killed. Major Leitch, of Vir- 
ginia, and about eight or ten subaltern officers and privates wound- 
ed. . . . The loss of the enemy uncertain . . violent 
presumption one hundred. The action lasted the whole of four 
hours. I consider our success in this small affair, at this time, almost 
equal to a victory. It has animated our troop, gave them new 
spirits, and erased every bad impression the retreat from Long Island, 
&c., had left on their minds. They find they are able now, with infe- 
rior numbers, to drive their enemy, and think of nothing now but 

conquest We are daily throwing up works to prevent 

the enemy's advancing. . . . Great attention is paid to Fort 
Washington, the posts opposite to it on the Jersey shore, and the 
obstructions in the river .... it is of the utmost consequence 
to keep the enemy below us." 

A letter from General Nathaniel Greene to Governor Cooke of 
Rhode Island, written the day after the Battle of Harlem Heights, 
describes this battle, though not of long duration, as gallantly and 
successfully fought. 

Among the officers on General Washington's staff at the time he 
occupied this house were: 

Aides-dk-Camp 

Col. William Grayson, of Virginia 

Col. Isaac Franks, of New York 

Lt.-Col. Richard Cary, of Massachusetts 

Lt.-Col. Samuel B. Webb, of Connecticut 

Lt.-Col. Tench Tilghman, of Pennsylvania 
Secretary 

Lt.-Col. Robert Hanson Harrison, of Virginia 
VI 




East side and rear of Mansion, showing Colonial Railings and also Rose Garden. 



Adjutant-Generai. 
Col. Joseph Read, of Connecticut 

Quarter-master-Genhral 
Col. Stephen Moylan, of Pennsylvania 

Paymaster-Generai. 
Col. William Palfrey, of Massachusetts 

Commissary-General 
Col. Joseph Trumbull, of Connecticut 

Director oe General Hospital 
Dr. John Morgan, of Pennsylvania 

Chief Engineer 
Col. Rufus Putnam, of Massachusetts 

Muster-master-General 
Col. Gunning Bedford, of Pennsylvania 

The stables and huts of the Headquarters, guards and orderlies, 
were north and west of the house near the line of 165th Street. The 
approach to the house, at that time, was by an avenue leading from 
the west side of the house to the Albany road, now the Broadway 
Boulevard. The house lot was separated from the road by a high 
colonial fence. Two small octagonal gate-houses, white with green 
blinds, flanked the entrance. Between these gate-houses the fence 
bowed inward to the gate. 

During the Summer of 1776, earthworks had been partially con- 
structed from the Morris House, west to the Hudson River, with a 
battery on the hill above the house where Mr. Audubon, the orni- 
thologist, since lived. 

The enemy was following Washington so closely on the day of his 
arrival at the Morris House, that he rode south as far as a redout 
built on the site of the present Convent of the Sacred Heart, to direct 
the battle of Harlem Heights, where Lieutenant-Colonel Knowlton 
and Major Leitch sacrificed their lives in repulsing the attack. This 
battle, though not a great one, was a sharp and decisive victory for the 
Americans, and was fought September i6th, 1776. Colonel Knowl- 
ton, after being wounded, was taken to the Cross Keys Tavern, then 
situated on the Kingsbridge road at what is now 165th Street, where 
he died. This tavern was used as a hospital during the Revolutionary 
War. Washington received the news of Knowlton's mortal wounds 
in the Council Chamber of this house while preparing dispatches for 
Congress. It was Colonel Knowlton who was deputized by Washing- 

VII 



ton to appeal to officers and men for the services of a spy to discover ' 
the movements of the English army on the north, as the Commander 
-in-Chief was alarmed lest a detachment of British troops, left upon 
Long Island, should cross over at a point above Kingsbridge and 
thereby hem in the American forces, both north and south, and by 
one decisive battle, crush out what remained of that part of the 
American army which had retreated to New York from Long Island. 
After much debate and long silence. Captain Nathan Hale proffered his 
services to Colonel Knowlton, and though convalescing from a long 
and serious illness, and entreated by General Hull not to venture. 
Hale said: "It is the wish of the Commander-in-Chief; the import- 
ance outweighs every other consideration, I go;" and he presented 
himself to Washington. Receiving from General Washington partic- 
ular instructions and a general order upon all the American sloops or 
galleys in the Sound to convey him across to any part upon Long 
Island which he should designate. Hale, about the middle of Septem- 
ber, accompanied by Stephen Hempstead, a confidential soldier of his 
own company, left the camp at Harlem Heights, intending to cross 
the Sound at the first opportunity; but it was not until they had 
reached Norvvalk, fifty miles up the Sound on the Connecticut shore, 
that they found proper protection. Here they found two row-galleys 
and the armed sloop Huntington, commanded by Captain Pond. 
This sloop Hale quickly engaged, and two hours before daybreak 
arrived on the east side of the Harbor of Huntington, Long Island. 
He was captured soon after and brought back to New York, exam- 
ined and condemned by General Howe on September 21st, at Howe's 
Headquarters, the Beekman House, 51st Street and ist Avenue. 
Hale, upon his own confession, was hanged the following day which 
was Sunday, September 22nd, at the corner of 45th Street and ist 
Avenue, after being subjected to aggravated cruelty by Captain Cun- 
ningham, the provost marshal. There is a tradition that Hale re- 
ceived Washington's orders in the Council Chamber of this Mansion, 
and that when he went forth, he left by the Guard Room through a 
closet (now closed and papered over) into the cellar, and thence out 
by the east side of the house, and proceeded north as directed by the 
Commander-in-Chief, so as to escape the possibility of encountering 
enemy scouts on the south. 

On the l6th of October, General Washington held a council of war 

in the Morris House, at which it was decided to abandon Manhattan 

VIII 



Island, and the four divisions under Generals Lee, Heath, Sullivan, 
and Lincoln began a movement north. Washington, however, con- 
tinued to occupy these Headquarters until the 2ist of October, when 
he issued his last orders from this house and followed the army. 

The Morris House, however, was not yet abandoned as Patriot 
Headquarters, for Colonel Robert Magaw, who was left behind with 
2600 men to hold the Heights and defend Fort Washington, continued 
to occupy it until the i6th of November. Prior to this date, Wash- 
ington, fearing for the safety of Colonel Magaw and his men, had 
ordered General Greene to direct Magaw to evacuate the Heights 
and Fort Washington, and to remove that portion of the army, 
together with supplies, to King's Bridge ; but Greene, believing in 
his own judgment, failed to execute the order; hence, on the 14th of 
November, when Washington returned to Fort Lee from West Point, 
where he had been to view a site for a new fortress, he was filled 
with dismay at Greene's attitude in the matter ; for he fully realized 
it was then too late, as several British vessels had already passed up 
the Hudson river, between the forts. The next day, November 15th, 
General Howe appeared before Fort Washington with an over- 
whelming force, demanding of Colonel Magaw immediate surrender, 
but Magaw defiantly refused. Howe later sent a second summons 
to Magaw, but still without effect; and on the morning of the i6th 
Howe precipitated an attack upon Fort Washington, which was bit- 
terly resisted by Magaw and his men, who fought with gallantry, 
though in vain. Early in the morning of that date, Washington 
hearing of Howe's demands upon Magaw, hastened across the river 
from Fort Lee, with the purpose of aiding Magaw — Generals Put- 
nam, Greene and Mercer having preceded him. Captain Alexander 
Graydon, an eyewitness, in his account published 1822, states that 
Washington accompanied by his generals, rode at once to the Morris 
House, to better acquaint himself with the positions of the two armies. 
Soon after, the British and Hessian troops, 14,000 strong, assaulted 
the Heights, and Washington and his party were nearly captured by 
the sudden appearance of the 42nd Highlanders, the celebrated 
Black Watch Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir 
Thomas Stirling, which had fought its way up the steep bank of what 
is now Speedway Park; but Washington and his party had suc- 
ceeded in reaching the landing place on the river before their escape 
was discovered. 

IX 



Meanwhile the enemy's advance guard of Highlanders, on gaining" 
the hill in the rear of the American Headquarters, took cover 
behind the huts and stables, and began firing on the house, which 
had been vacated by the Americans only shortly before. 

Washington did not again visit this mansion until after the close 
of the War. 

Another historical person of eminence identified with this house 
during Washington's occupancy was Alexander Hamilton, who, on 
March 14, 1776, at the instance of Colonel McDougall, was appointed 
Captain of a Company of Provincial Artillery, and received his first 
baptism of fire in the Battle of Long Island, and afterwards in the 
attack on Harlem Heights. This company of artillery, like the bri- 
gade commanded by General Knox, was, by one of those strange 
fates of war, left in the city, whilst the main army had retreated to 
Harlem, before the advancing British troops which had landed upon 
Manhattan Island some distance to the north. Major Aaron Burr, 
afterwards Captain and Colonel, while reconnoitering, discovered 
this brigade in an old sod-fort, nearly on a line with what is now 
Grand Street; and realizing, to stay there meant capture, if not death, 
immediately called for the commander and suggested a retreat ; but 
General Knox, believing the British in command of the Island, 
scouted the idea as madness. Burr, however, by his persistent 
earnestness and eloquence, and assuring General Knox and his 
ofificers that he knew the roads, soon persuaded them to yield to his 
entreaties; and on the 15th of September, Burr, with gallant bravery, 
led these rear detachments safely to the main army camp on Harlem 
Heights, where they were enthusiastically welcomed by the troops 
who had given them up as lost. Burr's extraordinary efforts during 
this march, in conducting so skillfully and safely this disheartened 
body of men, saved the entire retreating corps. 

During Washington's occupancy of this house, he used the Morris 
library as his Council Chamber, where he received his generals and 
ofificers, and others friendly to the cause. He also received here 
"the Indian Braves of the Six Nations," who entered the Council 
Chamber bearing laurel branches in token of their fealty. Aaron 
Burr, then an aide on Putnam's staff, appointed June 22, 1776, was 
writing a letter for General Washington when the Indians entered the 
room. It is said that the Indians entered this house at the side door, 
just at the left of the Council Chamber, and that some of the same 
stones over which they walked, still mark the pathway. 

X 




West side of Mansion showing balcony used as sentry-box, and doorway through 
WHICH THE Indian Braves entered when paying homage to Washington. 



According to the best traditions connected with this house, the 
north chamber at the end of the hall was Washington's bedroom, 
and his private office, where it is probable military secretaries worked 
under his direction. Opening off from this part of the house on the 
west is a small balcony used by Washington as a sentry-box; and 
from a corresponding balcony on the east, since removed, he viewed 
the army situations on the north and east. From the large balcony 
over the front door, it was possible, with the aid of a field-glass, for the 
Commander-in-chief to survey the very wide area stretched out before 
him on the south and west, so that this Mansion, with its command- 
ing situation, proved of great vantage to Washington at this critical 
time. 



IRovember 16, 1776— IRovember 25, 1783 

/I^ENERAL Lord Percy, having with him Admiral Lord Howe as his 
^^ guest, took possession of this house during the engagementthat 
resulted in the capture of Fort Washington on November i6, 1776. 

During the summer of 1777, it was occupied as Headquarters by 
General Sir Henry Clinton, whose sojourn here was of brilliant 
importance. 

In 1778 the house was assigned as Headquarters to Baron Wilhelm 
von Knyphausen, the Hessian general, who occupied it with his 
German staff for a very long period. Von Knyphausen, in command 
of his troops, may have been here on November i6th, 1776; but if 
so, did not long remain, as on November 22nd General Howe sum- 
moned him to command Fordham Heights. 

In June, 1 78 1 , another Hessian, General von Losberg, was quartered 
in the house, and also, at the same time, Lieutenant-Colonel von Hinte, 
the commandant of the fort. It is probable that the house was British 
or Hessian Headquarters from its capture on November 16, 1776, until 
the evacuation of New York on November 25, 1783, a period of 
seven years. 

XI 



C|)e Cransition ^erioU 

1783—1810 

rOR twenty-eight years after the evacuation of New York, until the 
purchase of the property by Stephen Jumel, the house passed 
through various hands. In 1784 it was sold by the Commission of 
Forfeiture, and for two years was the residence of Dr. Isaac Ledyard. 
In 1785, it became a public tavern known as Calumet Hall, and was 
the first stopping place on stage route, between New York and Boston. 
In 1790, it was a farm house, to which Washington, then president, 
came from New York on the lOth of July with a party of his cabinet 
officers and ladies, whom he entertained at dinner. In his diary of 
that date, he says: " Having formed a party consisting of the Vice- 
President, his lady, son, and Miss Smith, the Secretaries of State, 
Treasury, and War, and the ladies of the two latter, with all the gen- 
tlemen of my family, Mrs. Lear and the two children, we visited the 
old position of Fort Washington, and afterward dined on a dinner 
provided by a Mr. Mariner at the house, lately Colonel Roger Morris', 
but confiscated, and now in the possession of a common farmer." 

The Vice-President was John Adams, and the Secretaries were 
Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton, Secretary 
of the Treasury, and Henry Knox, Secretary of War. 

In 1794 Col. Roger Morris died in England. The British Govern- 
ment had paid rent to him for the house while it was British 
Headquarters. His widow, Mary Morris, showed so good a title to 
the property claiming it by pre-nuptial agreement, that John Jacob 
Astor bought her claim against the United States for a very large 
sum. 

Mrs. Morris died in London, July 18, 1825, at the advanced age 
of 96 years. 

Fitz-Greene Halleck, the poet, visited this house in 1827, and here 
wrote his celebrated poem "Marco Bozzaris." Subsequently he be- 
came secretary to John Jacob Astor. 

In 1799 the house was owned by William Kenyon, a merchant of 
the city, who sold it to Leonard Parkinson, of Kinnersley Castle, in 
the county of Hereford, England. 



XII 



%f)t ^umel Sertoli 

1810-1888 

A^N the 9th day of March, 1810, Stephen Jumel, a French merchant 
^^ doing business in New York, bought from Leonard Parkinson 
aforesaid, the Mansion and 36 acres of land for the sum of $9,927.50. 
Six years before, in 1804. Stephen Jumel had married Eliza Bowen, 
and the new purchase was to be the country home of the Jumels. 

The Mansion was in a dilapidated condition after its many changes 
of ownership, and Monsieur Jumel. with all the enthusiasm of a com- 
patriot of Lafayette, set about the task of restoring the house that 
had been occupied by Washington as his Headquarters, to its original 
condition. 

The windows were broken, and, as stained glass was not made in 
America, Monsieur Jumel sent fragments of the small circles, that 
enrich the front doorways, to France, where the original designs were 
reproduced and the glass restored as we see it to-day. The old 
colonial gates and gate-houses of the Morris period were also faith- 
fully reproduced. 

In the Council Chamber, the old wall paper was tattered and torn. 
Here Monsieur Jumel secured a sample, from which he had the original 
paper reproduced in Paris, and printed from wood blocks. The cost 
at that early period was $15.00 a roll, and the specimens of the old 
pattern, now under glass in the Guard Room, are pieces of the paper 
put on the walls of the Council Chamber by Monsieur Jumel in 1810. 

The work of Monsieur Jumel in restoring the Mansion to its con- 
dition during the Washington period was not only a work of love 
and loyalty, but a work e.xecuted in admirable good taste. 

To Monsieur and Madame Jumel, we owe most of the knowledge 
we possess of the original house, and probably, to their care, the 
existence of the house itself. 

Stephen Jumel went to France in his own ship, the Eliza, in 181 5, 
for the purpose of bringing Napoleon Bonaparte to America. Although 
his offer was declined, this generosity secured for him the friendship of 
the Bonaparte family. 

Before his departure for St. Helena, Napoleon Bonaparte gave 
numerous presents to Stephen Jumel, which are still preserved as 
family heirlooms. The Emperor gave his traveling carriage to the 

XIII 



Jumels, but this was seized at the barrier as they were leaving Paris, 
and Monsieur and Madame Jumel were held for six hours in the Con- 
cierge as prisoners, until they were released through the intercession 
of the American minister. They had also many pieces of furniture 
and paintings belonging to the Empress Josephine ; a set of drawing- 
room furniture once the property of Charles the X ; an old chandelier, 
the property of Moreau ; and relics which had belonged to various 
Kings of France, Louis Napoleon, and very many other distinguished 
people. The chandelier, now in the Council Chamber, is like the one 
at Fontainebleau. 

The African Cyprus trees, twenty of which are still standing in a 
semi-circle about what remains of the old fish pond at the corner of 
I 59th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, were presented by the Khedive 
of Egypt to Napoleon in the last days of 18 14, when his dynasty was 
closing. The roots of each little tree were surrounded with native 
earth, encased in canvas bags. In this condition the trees, some 400 
in number, lay neglected on the ground in one of the gardens of 
the Tuilleries for several months, when they were secured by Stephen 
Jumel who sent them to this country and had them planted here. 

Stephen Jumel died in May, 1832, as the result of a carriage 
accident. 

In 1824 Lafayette was entertained in this house by the Jumels. 
He slept in the north-west chamber, which was thereafter called the 
Lafayette Room. 

Louis Napoleon was a guest in this house in 1837. When he went 
to France to head the events that finally placed him on the throne, 
he was supplied with money advanced by Madame Jumel. 

Joseph Bonaparte was entertained here by Madame Jumel in 18 19 
and 1820. Arriving in the absence of his hostess, his first meal in 
the house was a dinner of pork and cabbage served by the cook in 
the south-west basement kitchen, designated in Colonial days as the 
slaves kitchen. It was during his visit that the entrance to the 
Council Chamber was enlarged and supplied with folding doors in 
place of the original door of ordinary width. Prince Jerome Bona- 
parte, and the Prince de Joinville were also guests of Madame Jumel. 

It has been frequently stated that Madame Jumel entertained here 
Louis Phillipe, the Citizen King of France, and the great Talleyrand; 
but proof is, that the visits of these distinguished men to this house 
ante-dated her time; for Louis Phillipe, during his twenty-one years of 

XIV 



exile, was in America only from 1796 to 1800; and Talleyrand, in his 
Memoirs, refers to his visits in New York, as having been during the 
winters of 1794 and 1795. He says, "I availed myself of the op- 
portunity thus offered, to meet the chief personages connected with 
tiie American Revolution, especially General Alexander Hamilton, 
whose mind, character and ability, places Hamilton on a par with the 
most distinguished Statesmen of Europe". It was doubtless at this 
time that Talleyrand visited this historic Mansion. 

Enoch Crosby, the original of Harvey Birch, in J. Fenimore 
Cooper's Novel "The Spy" — written in 182 i — spent a night in this 
house. J. Fenimore Cooper was appointed United States Consul to 
Lyons, France, in 1826. 

In 1791 Madame Jumel saw the assembling of Congress, and in 
1793 she saw the second inauguration of Washington. In 1824 she 
was in France, and that year attended the Coronation ball of 
Charles X. 

One of the last distinguished persons to sit at her table in the old 
dining room was General William Tecumseh Sherman, of the Civil 
War. 

Madame Jumel, with her sumptuous tastes and wealth, entertained 
lavishly. A person who was present at one of her receptions, says, 
that at that time, all around the base-board of the Council Chamber 
were small foot-high mirrors which reflected the graceful sweep of 
the ladies' gowns; and that Madame Jumel on state occasions received 
her friends seated on a dias in the room. She was also in those 
days a very conspicuous figure on the Bloomingdale Road with her 
Colonial yellow coach and postillions. 

On July 1st, 1833, Madame Jumel was married to Aaron Burr, by 
the Rev. David Bogart. The ceremony took place in the tea room, 
which is at the left of the entrance to the Mansion. Rev. Bogart was 
the same clergyman who had performed the wedding ceremony for 
Burr and his first wife, Theodosia Bartow, widow Provost, just fifty- 
one years before, lacking one day. 

Madame Jumel died on Sunday morning, i6th July. 1865, and her 
funeral took place from this house on the i8th. During the morning 
the remains were exposed to view in the Council Chamber, and short- 
ly after one o'clock were removed to the Church of the Intercession, 
I 58th Street and Broadway. She is buried in Trinity Cemetery, i 54th 
Street and Broadway. Madame Jumel was born in Providence, R. I., 

XV 



Joliii I'iske's History of the Revolution on the surrender of Fort Wasliington," 

vol. I, pp. 220 &c. 
I'or positions of armies upon Manhattan Islan;l, East River, North River 

and the Bay, see map in Lossing's "Life of Wa.shington." 
l"or British Period, see General Howe's order book; tl;e diaries of his Adjt. 

General; and of Colonel Montressor. 
Bens. Lossing's "Life of Washington". 
Statements of Nelson Chase, and recollections of his daughter, .^Irs. Julius 

H. Caryl. 
Mrs. Edwin R. Fay— Enoch Crosby, Madame Jumel's Colonial Coach and 

Fish-pond. 
Notes from William Henry Shelton, Curator, Washington Headquarters, 1908, 



xvin 



•k^iis 



Washington's Headquarters on Harlem Heights may be 
reached by the Broadway Subway to 157th Street and 
by the Amsterdam Avenue surface cars. J- J> ^ 



